For me, if I absolutely love a name, I'm going to use it regardless of popularity. I can understand people wanting their children to have a name that isn't so common, but if I had to choose between naming my daughter Sophia or making up a name, I'd choose Sophia in a heartbeat.

I posted something almost identical to this several months ago. The consensus seemed to be that people figure the further away they get from the Top 50/100/200, the less likely they will find ANY other children that share their child's name. They want to avoid their child being "one of 7" in their class, even though those situations are very rare anymore. They want a name they've never heard anybody use. Sometimes it backfires, like when you choose the name Zebbediah because you think it's super unique...only to find out that two of your son's classmates are Zebaadyah and Zebuhdiya. Hypothetically.

I don't personally concern myself much with the "Top X," I consider trends and styles. I won't go for Haidynn or Aubreiella or RainbowClementineSunshineBerry or anything similarly trendy because they're going to be dated and ridiculous in 10 years (and they're silly now anyway). I like to check the top charts to see the trends..what names are coming back, what names are going out, which letters are popular, which styles are popular...stuff like that. Just for fun. But when it comes down to actually choosing a name for a human, popularity charts will factor very little into my decision. The only "popularity" issue I have is that I will not choose a name that any of my friends or family have used for their children.

Haha, in my brother's kindergarten class, every single boy shared his name with at least one other boy. There were something like 6 Daniels, 2 Davids, 3 Michaels, and 3 Jameses. This does not happen anymore.

I agree with this - I used to be anti popular, until I realised that less than 1% of kids are given the top name. However, I work with children, so I do hear some names a lot. For example, there's at least one Nathan in every class (one class has 2), therefore, if I stay in my area, I wouldn't choose Nathan on my son. I also know at least 5 little Ava's - so Ava would likely be out, unless I move. However, I've only ever met one Emilia, and never an Amelia - so Amelia's fine for me to use. Same with Liam - I've never met a child who is just Liam, but I know two William's.

I grew up with a name in the 500's range, and have always have to introduce myself twice. It's funny, because I think it's a fairly straightforward name, but as a Julie/Julia derivative I guess it has a few female and male variations, so that might do it. My name's also long; it's only 3 syllables but it just sounds long to say, and I find people don't address me by name very often, so much so that when they do it feels weird and overly personal. As a child I wanted to be named Hannah. I thought it was the most beautiful name ever, and so much cooler than my name.

But even still, as an adult I am so much more attracted to unusual names. Some very common names begin to feel so bland to me, names like Sarah, Jennifer, and Jessica from the 80's/90's and Emma, Olivia, and Ava of today. They seem so dull that it almost is like not having a name that gives you an identity. None of the Sarah's I know are just Sarah to me, it's always Sarah lastname, Sarah from x activity, etc. I can't really put a number on how many I have to meet before a name begins to feel that way.

I find I'm attracted to girls names that give me a spark. It's not that I don't love some popular names, I really do. Ruby and Clara are some of my favourite names, and I still might use them, but I just can't get as excited about them as my non-1000 ones. It's not the number, or worrying about them having more than one in their class. I can't describe what it is, but I think it comes from a lot of places. Being an introvert, I want to give my kids something unique to just them. I'm attracted to short and spunky names, since mine is so long and classic. I also love names with diminutive nicknames, since I never had one that was used by anyone other than my immediate family.

My boys' names aren't quite the same, though they are similarly short and cool. I'm definitely going to have a son named Leo no matter how high it goes, unless I start hearing them everywhere.

I'm sure I probably just attach way too much significance to names, but I see it as such an ingrained part of our identities. That's what makes me such a name nerd